Jiraiya Exposed

"All right, now that I’ve infiltrated the place, I should gather some intelligence."

The wandering writer known as Jiraiya was none other than Jiraiya, one of Konoha’s Sannin.

Security along the border between Suna-nin and Konoha was too tight. Even Root had failed to infiltrate it, and Jiraiya naturally had no desire to invite trouble, so he chose to enter Sunagakure through the Land of Wind.

Jiraiya discovered that the relationship between Sunagakure and the Land of Wind was somewhat strained. Sunagakure had even set up checkpoints against the Land of Wind, yet even so, people passed through in an endless stream every day.

Jiraiya blended in along the way. If he wanted to learn more, he would have to go deeper into Sunagakure.

"I didn’t expect Sunagakure to set up checkpoints this far out. Looks like those Suna-nin are hiding quite a few secrets. Too bad this is a desert. Otherwise, if I summoned some toads, I could gather much more intelligence," Jiraiya said, scratching his head.

Mount Myoboku had toads skilled at gathering and recording intelligence, but Sunagakure was located in the desert. Summoning toads here would be far too conspicuous.

After entering Sunagakure’s sphere of influence, Jiraiya followed the map and hurried toward the village.

He hoped to capture someone who was alone, then use ninjutsu to infiltrate Sunagakure and gather information.

As long as he was not surrounded by a large Suna-nin force, Jiraiya was confident he could retreat. Besides, the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, had already died. With so many Ninja stationed at the border, the village itself had to be poorly defended.

Before long, Jiraiya arrived near Sunagakure.

"Someone’s there."

As he neared Sunagakure, Jiraiya suddenly spotted seven people passing ahead. They looked like they had just left the village.

"Four Suna-nin and three others. The leader looks familiar."

Jiraiya looked through his binoculars, then took out the intelligence booklet Sarutobi Hiruzen had given him. When he flipped to the third page, the face matched.

"Yasunori Sakai, a core member of the Yasunori Trading Company. His status in the Yasunori Family is second only to the Patriarch. He is deeply trusted by the Yasunori House Head and manages businesses worth over a billion ryo… Tsk, this guy manages more money than I’ve made from writing novels for years."

Jiraiya poked his head out again to inspect the other Ninja and used a sensory ninjutsu as well, discovering that the four Suna-nin were not particularly strong.

"Capture him and extract intelligence. This is not far from Sunagakure, so I can only use a barrier to trap them. That way, the Suna-nin won’t notice."

Yasunori Sakai was practically a core member of the Yasunori Family, and he was not a Ninja himself. His resistance to interrogation should be relatively weak. If Jiraiya captured him, he should be able to pry out plenty of intelligence.

Furthermore, Jiraiya observed that this group was leaving Sunagakure rather than returning to it. If he captured and interrogated them, he would have ample time.

After making his decision, Jiraiya used Earth Style to slip underground. He moved ahead along Yasunori Sakai’s route and waited for them to arrive.

"Lord Yasunori, why didn’t you accept the Kazekage’s invitation? This seems to be the first time the Fifth Lord has invited someone to become her assistant."

A Suna-nin Chunin asked Yasunori Sakai enviously. If it had been any of them just now, they would have agreed without the slightest hesitation.

She was the Kazekage, and she was so beautiful. Being able to stay by Lord Kazekage’s side every day would be an incredibly happy thing.

Yasunori Sakai chuckled and replied, "Because no one can take over my work yet. If someone can handle part of it, I will go assist Lord Kazekage."

Yasunori Sakai was currently responsible for quite a few matters in Sunagakure. The most important were expansion and Supplies allocation, so he had to leave the village from time to time. That was precisely why Pakura had assigned four Chunin to protect Yasunori Sakai while Sunagakure was short-handed.

"Sugiki, Sunagakure is so busy right now, and Lord Yasunori hasn’t had a proper rest in days. Stop bothering him," another older Suna-nin said. As Guards, they had all seen Yasunori Sakai’s workload. Sometimes, even when they rotated shifts to rest, Yasunori Sakai was still working.

They deeply admired his wholehearted dedication to Sunagakure. Therefore, the four Chunin had no complaints at all about serving as Yasunori Sakai’s Guards. If anything, they were happy to do it.

"I understand, Lord Yasunori. Please get some proper rest."

Bam!

Before the Suna-nin could finish speaking, their bodies suddenly swayed. The scene before them abruptly changed, and the group found themselves in a narrow passage filled with fleshy tumors.

"Enemy!"

The four Suna-nin Chunin had experienced war. The moment they shook off the strange sensation, they formed a square formation around Yasunori Sakai. The other two Yasunori Trading Company employees were directly squeezed outside.

Yet there was no helping it. An enemy capable of moving all seven of them elsewhere in an instant had to be extremely powerful. Protecting Yasunori Sakai was their foremost mission.

"Wild Lion’s Mane Technique!"

Countless strands of white hair suddenly shot out from around the corner at the end of the fleshy passage, lunging toward Yasunori Sakai and the others. The four Suna-nin Chunin immediately used their own methods to block them.

"Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique!"

"Wind Release: Beast Wave Palm!"

Although the two Wind Release techniques cut through some of the white hair, even more surged forth afterward. The four Suna-nin then drew Exploding Tags and Kunai to fight back, but the hair was both hard and extraordinarily flexible. Before the Suna-nin Guards could even use their Exploding Tags, they were tightly bound by the hair.

Yasunori Sakai was then seized by the hair as well.

"Stop struggling. This is the stomach of Mount Myoboku’s Iwasu Toad. No one has ever escaped from here. And the one you’ve encountered is me, the White-Haired Child, Sage Jiraiya. Don’t even think about running. Just answer my questions obediently."

Jiraiya stepped out, stroking his chin as he spoke to them. But soon afterward, he sensed that something was wrong.

Yasunori Sakai’s expression was far too calm. Even the Suna-nin beside him were still struggling, their faces filled with panic. Could a merchant really have stronger nerves than Ninja?

"All right, I’ll start with you!"

Jiraiya pointed at Yasunori Sakai, his expression turning slightly stern. "This is the Iwasu Toad’s stomach. If you don’t answer honestly, you’ll be digested by stomach acid before long!"

After hearing that, Yasunori Sakai’s expression remained utterly unchanged. He replied in an even tone, "So it’s Jiraiya, one of Konoha’s Sannin."

Inside the Laboratory in Rōran, Hyuga Mirai was testing the Nano Space Capsule when Android 18’s voice suddenly rang out within the Laboratory.

"Sir, Yasunori Sakai has been attacked. Based on the signal fragments continuously being transmitted back, the person who captured Yasunori Sakai is Jiraiya of Konoha’s Sannin. Yasunori Sakai may be in another space."

"Jiraiya? That guy really is a nuisance."

Hyuga Mirai temporarily stopped the test and checked Uzumaki Ayaka’s location, only to discover that Orochimaru had sent her to Iwagakure. She probably would not be able to return anytime soon.

"Forget it. I’ll go myself. Android 18, where was the last location the signal was transmitted from?"

"It has already been sent to your terminal, sir."

Second update, please vote!

I’ll post more tomorrow!